Different Types of insomnia

Three different types of insomnia exist. Insomnia may be classified as transient, acute (short-term), and chronic. Insomnia lasting from one night to a few weeks is referred to as transient. This is generally the case for most people, as one often suffers from jet lag or short-term anxiety. If this form of insomnia continues to occur from time to time, the insomnia is classified to be intermittent. Acute insomnia is the inability to consistently sleep well for a period of three weeks to six months. However, after this time, the person does not experience insomniatic episodes. Insomnia is considered to be chronic, the most serious, if it persists almost nightly for at least a month, and sometimes longer.

Why do so many people have Insomnia? 

Scientists say modern age human beings are sleeping for fewer hours (about 30 percent of adults are getting 6 hours or less of sleep). Those who study sleep blame artificial lighting for changing sleep patterns. Lightning interferes with the production of the brain hormone melatonin, which regulates our sleep wake cycle. Darkness switches on melatonin. With artificial light, modern humans have essentially managed to extend their daytime activities late into the night, when all other sensible creatures are busy sleeping. As a result, we have compressed our natural sleep into artificially short nighttimes, but not all people are so easily tamed by artificial light. Doctors also blame modern day lifestyles for insomnia; we work too much and worry too much. This is leading to too much dependence on sleeping pills that cause serious side effects like amnesia and sleepwalking. 

Many insomniacs do not even recognize that they have a condition; they just think they feel sleepy because they need more sleep than others. In fact doctors now think that many people are just mistaken that they have a sleep problem. What constitutes good sleep depends on many factors. Many people get up in the middle of the night, lie awake for a good 30-45 minutes and then go back to sleep, and have no problems the next day. All of us have different body rhythms and different body types. But as we age we sleep less, and women more than men seem to be affected by insomnia more. The ability to sleep for long periods, rather than the need for sleep, appears to be lost, as people get older. Some elderly insomniacs toss and turn in bed and occasionally fall off the bed at night, diminishing the amount of sleep they receive.

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